


Journal Entry #137

by impish_nature



Series: Lighthouse Keeper AU [5]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Lighthouse Keeper AU, The New Journal, The adventures after light keeper, deepsea cryptids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 14:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12212865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impish_nature/pseuds/impish_nature
Summary: Lighthouse Keeper AU - Ford finds something fascinating that he can’t resist investigating further.





	Journal Entry #137

**Author's Note:**

> This was written ages ago when @howtotrainyournana tagged me in a very interesting post about deepsea cryptids. Which I now can’t find to link. But yeah, I had to write this and I’ve been sitting on this knowing it couldn’t be posted til I’d actually written the end to Light Keeper. ^^;;  
> But hey- I said there’d be more in this AU ;p   
> Oh, and actually- there are already more oneshots on patreon <3

_What luck – a dead cryptid has washed up along the shore! The entire fishing town is abuzz with it. We only arrived a few short hours ago, making port on schedule for once, and I feel like that careful planning has been rewarded!_

_They were already preparing to push the creature back into the sea, quickly and without trouble, in the hopes it could be forgotten about. I’m glad we got here when we did! Though my brother seems to agree with them… I’m not entire sure why he seems so unnerved by this particular specimen, not when we were attacked by a much livelier individual only a few days ago out in the open water. Our Stan’O’War II has the scars as proof of that particular battle! And yet he seems convinced that some things, such as this, should just be left as mysteries…_

_Regardless, I have finally managed to persuade the townspeople to let me take a look at it before they do anything hasty! The research is invaluable, even if none of them understand the significance of it._

_Stan has gone back into town to get us supplies, he says he’ll meet me on the boat when I’m ready. We did have plans to explore this area a bit but I understand – the townsfolk are giving me as wide a berth as the creature now, perhaps it’s best we continue on our journey sooner rather than later._

_Stan had been excited to reach port again though… I’ll find a place nearby for us to stop properly once I’m done with my research to make it up to him._

_That is a matter for later though, for now – the creature!_

_It seems to be some kind of giant eel. It’s all coiled up where it has beached but I’d estimate that it could be as long as 50ft whilst in the water. It is a heavy specimen, slippery too, my hands barely even touch if I wrap them around the creature, so moving said coils has proven fruitless to effectively measure its entire length accurately._

_The scales though are quite brilliant! I assume it must be some kind of deep sea cryptid.  
The scales when we first arrived this morning and saw it from a distance were a distinct inky black, perfect I assume for dark caverns and hidden spaces below the sea. But now, on closer inspection, they are iridescent. The light from the sun is changing them to a mesmerising array of colours, much like crows wings. There’s almost a patterned quality to it though, rings and swirls of colour, it’s really quite hypnotic- perhaps a way to lure in prey? Fascinating. I wonder what it must have looked like when it was alive…_

_The longer I stand here, the duller the scales seem to appear as they dry out… if I had more time I’d check if my theory was correct but I can feel people still watching me suspiciously. For now I’ll just take some samples when I’m sure no one can see. I’d rather not give them any more reasons to grow mistrustful of us._

_I managed it – interestingly the skin below the scales is not actually black, it’s vaguely translucent. I wonder if there is more to this creature having a bioluminescence than previously thought._

_I’m going to try and move some of the coils again now that I’ve collected some scales-_

_There’s a humanoid face! How intriguing, it appears to be some species of Merperson? Perhaps? Its face is quite flat, perhaps the pressure in its habitat is fairly strong, that would explain it evolving in this manner. The bioluminescence would fit this theory! Is this a deep sea Merperson? One that has survived for years in the unexplored parts of the ocean? I’ve never heard a Merperson speak of such cousins, I wonder how differently they have evolved, whether they even speak the same languages, sing the same songs… or perhaps I have been told of them before but not in so many words, not in a way I understood at the time. I’ll have to go back through my notes later!_

_But it all fits. The fluid eel body, thin and long, much more suited for the deeper open waters – perhaps this is a guardian of the perplexing eel gardens I have heard about before?_

_…It’s jaw unhinges. There are rows of sharp hooked teeth but by the impressive way its mouth opens I’d say it swallows most things whole, much like a snake or a gulper eel. Perhaps it swims open mouthed through the water, capturing anything that in unfortunate enough to get in its way…_

_That’s… quite an unsettling image, with the jaw open like that- I’m a bit glad that my first meeting is with this co-operative fellow._

_…Moving on._

_There are 6 eyes by the looks of it, unlike a fish it still appears to have eyelids, though for what purpose I cannot even begin to fathom. I’ll pull one open now and give a quick sketch._

_Oh! How fascinating. The eyes themselves are pure black, much the same as the body, but the pupil itself is a thin white slit. I wonder if they were another luring mechanism?_

_Yes! It appears so! If I manoeuvre the head up towards the sunlight, the eyes seem to reflect the light, giving the pupils a yellow-_

_…Stan was right, some things should be left well alone._

_I think I’m done with this research, it’s time we left this coast._


End file.
